Accents Project- Volunteers?

[SleepyWitch]

heyho, I hope it's OK to look for volunteers for a project?
a friend of mine and me are helping a year 11 class at a local school with a project on English accents.
They've got some speakers already but are looking for a few more volunteers.
All you need to do is read out and record a short text and give a sample of unscrpited speech. The text and online recording device will be available on their homepage in a couple of weeks (I'll tell you the URL once the page is up).
*You will need a headset/ mic*
I'm especially looking for speakers from
Scotland,
India/Pakistan,
England (except London)
Ireland/Northern Ireland
Wales
USA
anyone with English as a second language (one of their mother tongues apart from another language) or English as a foreign language who has been speaking it for a long time (including Germans MINUS Bavarians/Franconians)

Thanks for your help :)

[Madhuri]

Is it a one time activity, or an ongoing project?

You will be teaching about difference in accents?

I would like to give it a try :nod:

[Nightshade]

well Im constantly told I have an unusal accent, want me??

[Lioness_Heart]

I have a midlands (Fen) accent... I can also sound quite Nottingham sometimes... any good?

[SleepyWitch]

Is it a one time activity, or an ongoing project?

You will be teaching about difference in accents?

I would like to give it a try :nod:
that would be great, we haven't got any speakers from your part of the world yet! (and Indian English is soooooo cute :) )
It's a one time thing (at least at your end: you only have to do those two recordings I described and that's it)
I'm not too sure what exactly our role will be in this project, but the teacher will tell my friend and me on Friday (hopefully).


I have a midlands (Fen) accent... I can also sound quite Nottingham sometimes... any good?
yep that would be cool!

well Im constantly told I have an unusal accent, want me?? yep :)

do you all have a mic/headset?
Can I tell the teacher you'll take part? Thanks for your help :)
Be aware that you might have to state (part of) your real name, age and occupation in the unscripted speech sample.

any other volunteers?

[Madhuri]

do you all have a mic/headset?
Can I tell the teacher you'll take part? Thanks for your help :)
Be aware that you might have to state (part of) your real name, age and occupation in the unscripted speech sample.

any other volunteers?

I have a headset, I just have to find out where I kept it :D

About the personal information part, ask your teacher if it could be optional?

[dramasnot6]

i can borrow my dad's headset. I have your typical East Coast US accent, would that be of any use?

[SleepyWitch]

I have a headset, I just have to find out where I kept it :D

About the personal information part, ask your teacher if it could be optional?

ok. maybe you could just say Hello I'm Maddy or something so we can name the file "Maddy" and identify it but you won't have to include your full first and last name, OK?


i can borrow my dad's headset. I have your typical East Coast US accent, would that be of any use?
yep that would be cool. We (or rather the kids) could compare it to British English on the one and General American on the other hand.

[Madhuri]

ok. maybe you could just say Hello I'm Maddy or something so we can name the file "Maddy" and identify it but you won't have to include your full first and last name, OK?


Oh, so you need all this information for keeping a record? I think 'Maddy' will do. :nod:

[SleepyWitch]

we'll need to know where you live and whether English is your mother tongue/second language/foreign language and how long you've been speaking it. for those who live in the UK, USA, NZ, Oz, Canada and don't have English as a mother tongue we'll need to know how long they've lived in this country
(the same goes for e.g. Brits living in the US, Americans living in NZ etc etc)
it's so we can figure out whether a persons accent represents a local dialect/accent within the English-speaking country or is mingled with elements of their native language (for those with English as a foreign language)

[kilted exile]

I would offer to do this, but my accent isnt really all that Scottish. It is slightly anglicised due to the mother being english & the speech therapy I had to undertake as a child.

[SleepyWitch]

I would offer to do this, but my accent isnt really all that Scottish. It is slightly anglicised due to the mother being english & the speech therapy I had to undertake as a child.

hm... I'll think about it. if we can't find another Scotish speaker you be forcibly enlisted :)

[Virgil]

heyho, I hope it's OK to look for volunteers for a project?
a friend of mine and me are helping a year 11 class at a local school with a project on English accents.
They've got some speakers already but are looking for a few more volunteers.
All you need to do is read out and record a short text and give a sample of unscrpited speech. The text and online recording device will be available on their homepage in a couple of weeks (I'll tell you the URL once the page is up).
*You will need a headset/ mic*
I'm especially looking for speakers from
Scotland,
India/Pakistan,
England (except London)
Ireland/Northern Ireland
Wales
USA
anyone with English as a second language (one of their mother tongues apart from another language) or English as a foreign language who has been speaking it for a long time (including Germans MINUS Bavarians/Franconians)

Thanks for your help :)

Hey Sleepy. How about an American who was born in Italy, grew up around Italian speaking parents and having an accent that reflects growing up in Brooklyn, NY. "Forgetaboutit, you knowhatI mean?" ;)

Actully I would love to participate but I don't have one of those microphone things.

[Nightshade]

is this the person who can pinpoint where your from a la higgins? ( was his name higgins :confused: whats it called the play we just read?)

English is the languge I use most my mom is english but becasue of living all over the place and mixing with people from all diferant places my acent has an 'expat' flavour as well as stoke/midlands/northen/manchester/properqueens english/ teenslang ness to it.

[AimusSage]

Too bad I can't participate, I'd have shown those donkeys what a crazy martian sounds like. :D

Edit: Well, not actually show them ofcourse, but they would hear it. :D

[Niamh]

I'd also love to help sleepy but i dont have one of those headsets. I've your tipical hyberno-anglo dublinesse accent.(and not the hyberno-anglo innercity dublinesse one i might add);)

[papayahed]

I would help as well but I don't have a microphone either... and I don't think I have an accent, but then again that's what most midwesterners think.

[kathycf]

I have a headset if you need an extemely nasal Northern New England accent. We say Bahstun for Boston and cah for car. :p

(nasal because I have chronic sinusitis.)

[SleepyWitch]

is this the person who can pinpoint where your from a la higgins? ( was his name higgins :confused: whats it called the play we just read?)

English is the languge I use most my mom is english but becasue of living all over the place and mixing with people from all diferant places my acent has an 'expat' flavour as well as stoke/midlands/northen/manchester/properqueens english/ teenslang ness to it.

Nope this teacher is a local school teacher. the one who can pinpoint where ppl are from like Higgins is our professor of historical linguistics.
That school teacher has to do a project with her pupils because the Ministry of Education are reforming year 11 and 12. There will be more projects as opposed to teacher-centred lessons. The teacher's class has to test if it works and someone from the ministry will evaluate this new method.
It doesn't really matter what kind of project they do, so this teacher picked "English Accents" for some reason (imho she doesn't really know the first thing about accents). She asked the IT institute and our department (English Linguistics) for help, so that's where my friend and me come in.
...are you bored to death yet? :blush:

[SleepyWitch]

I have a headset if you need an extemely nasal Northern New England accent. We say Bahstun for Boston and cah for car. :p

(nasal because I have chronic sinusitis.)

hehe, that would be cool :) I don't think I've ever heard a (nasal) Northern New England accent.

Seeing as there are so many volunteers, I can't promise the pupils will actually analyse all of your samples in their papers, but it would be great if you could take part anyway. That way they'd get to listen to a variety of accents they've never heard before, which would be a valuable experience in itself :)

[Koa]

I guess I don't qualify then? Not being a native and not having lived in the UK long enough to have it influence my accent? (oh I wish it did! ;))

Slightly off topic, in another forum I visit this stuff is really frequent (not projects, I mean recording and showing accents to each other) and I still don't have the guts to record myself and show everyone how NOT to pronounce English :lol: I have microphone-fear, to be honest :blush:

[Nightshade]

well l;et me in Ill totally mess up the experiment of the fun:brow: :D:D

[SleepyWitch]

hiya, are my volunteers still willing to take part?
would you also be willing to exchange a few e-mails with the pupil who will analyse your speech sample? (just so they can get to know you and find out a bit about your background?)
please be aware that your sample will be used for academic purposes and will be available on the internet (unless you indicate otherwise).

Maddie, I think the teacher is particularly keen on an Indian speaker. but the others are still needed, as well!

[Madhuri]

Check your inbox :)

[SleepyWitch]

cool ! :)

[Shannanigan]

I'd be willing, but I think my 4 years here in the Caribbean would have had an effect on my "Californian" English. It is my native, and only, language, though...if I can be of help let me know if it's not too late. PM me :)

[Virgil]

I guess I don't qualify then? Not being a native and not having lived in the UK long enough to have it influence my accent? (oh I wish it did! ;))

Slightly off topic, in another forum I visit this stuff is really frequent (not projects, I mean recording and showing accents to each other) and I still don't have the guts to record myself and show everyone how NOT to pronounce English :lol: I have microphone-fear, to be honest :blush:

Actually I would love to hear your English. I'm curious if Italians learning English in Italy have a different accent than Italians who have immigrated to America. Most of my older relatives all have accents.

[SleepyWitch]

Actually I would love to hear your English. I'm curious if Italians learning English in Italy have a different accent than Italians who have immigrated to America. Most of my older relatives all have accents.

couldn't we set up a thread where we post audiofiles of us reading out a few lines from a book? i've seen it done on another forum

thanks Shanna, I'll let you know!

[kathycf]

hiya, are my volunteers still willing to take part?
would you also be willing to exchange a few e-mails with the pupil who will analyse your speech sample? (just so they can get to know you and find out a bit about your background?)
please be aware that your sample will be used for academic purposes and will be available on the internet (unless you indicate otherwise).

Maddie, I think the teacher is particularly keen on an Indian speaker. but the others are still needed, as well!
I can still do it, and have no problem with the email part either. PM me if you need me and tell me what to do....:)

[Nightshade]

couldn't we set up a thread where we post audiofiles of us reading out a few lines from a book? i've seen it done on another forum

thanks Shanna, I'll let you know!

What take audio clips?? humm we could try:nod:

[Shannanigan]

couldn't we set up a thread where we post audiofiles of us reading out a few lines from a book? i've seen it done on another forum

That sounds so cool! I'd totally be willing to do that...both in my Californian and Caribbean versions, lol :P

[kilted exile]

I dont think the forum attachments include audio type files, it'd probably have to be put onto something like you-tube.

[SleepyWitch]

Heyho,
I've attached those instructions I wrote about in my PM. (they are written by a friend of mine)

here's a screen shot of a spectrogram of the word "kit". if you like, I could do some of those of the speech of my volunteers as a reward and give you an analysis of your accent. my friends and me could do coz the kids and us will do that anyway.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/SleepyWitch/kit.jpg

[SleepyWitch]

when you create a new speaker in the java application, don't use the same name you picked for a username.
if you registered as John, for example, use John1, John2 etc for the speakers

sorry about that, will tell the IT guy who programmed it about it

[Schokokeks]

Awww, that sounds so interesting !
I would love to participate, too, only I don't have a mic :(.
But good luck with your project, Sleepy, I hope the kids will enjoy it ! ;)

[SleepyWitch]

here's a copy of the PM i sent to my volunteers. anyone who wants to take part, please read these and the word document above.


you can finally do your recording for the accents project. i'm afraid there are still a few bugs, but i don't think they'll ever get sorted out 100%, so you can just give it a go.
have you got e-mails from the brats yet? if not, it's either because they are still playing truant or because the teacher hasn't forwarded your addies yet.


I'll post a word document containing instructions in the Accents Project thread. Please read them before you record your sample


** the page were you can do the recording is:
www.caller.informatik.uni-erlangen.de

** you have to download Java RE if you haven't got it.

**pick the text "Comma 1 Text/Comma 2"
you may have to scroll up and down during the recording (that's one of the bugs)
the text you have to read out will be displayed and you can read it out into your microphone as soon as it is on the screen. you have to click the "arrow" at the end of each section

** since the client loads up your recording directly to the server without saving it on your computer, there might be interruptions due to data transfer being done. there will be a little Java window saying either 'transferring data' or "Datenübertragung".
when this window appears just wait till its done and continue when the window has disappeared.

** at the end of the text, press the arrow button at the right bottom to go back to the menu (another bug)

** next, please record the obligatory questions and feel free to answer the "personal" questions (no worries they're not about your dark secrets, just stuff like hobbies, interests etc)

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP

[SleepyWitch]

there's another bug, please don't do any recordings at the moment. I'll tell you when they've sorted it out.

[kathycf]

Um, I am having some problems with this, Sleepy. I keep getting an error message and I get frustrated VERY easily. :blush: Also, I have not received an email from any of the students.

Clicking on image will expand it.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h56/kathycf/th_accent.jpg (http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h56/kathycf/accent.jpg)

[Virgil]

Like I said in my PM, Sleepy, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the Italians speaking. The older fellow, the last one that was around 60 years old is exactly the type of accent of Italian-Americans I grew up around. The others, all in their twenties, seemed to have a different accent. Must be generational.

[SleepyWitch]

Um, I am having some problems with this, Sleepy. I keep getting an error message and I get frustrated VERY easily. :blush: Also, I have not received an email from any of the students.

Clicking on image will expand it.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h56/kathycf/th_accent.jpg (http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h56/kathycf/accent.jpg)

ah, you have to enter your date of birth the european way round. DD=two digits for the day, e.g. 12 or 05, MM=two digits for the month, YYYY= four for the year.edit:ooops, you did that. but you have to put "." betweent the day/month/year instead of "/". e.g. 12.05.1978sorry, it's another european/German convention

don't do any recordings right now and I'll post here and PM you when the IT bloke has sorted the other problems out, ok?
i think there's one more kid who doesn't have a speaker yet. he'll mail you one of these days. if he doesn't don't worry about it and just do your recording anyway. :) THANKS SO MUCH FOR VOLUNTEERING

[Nightshade]

Its messed up for me too,:( cant rember why though:rolleyes:

[SleepyWitch]

Its messed up for me too,:( cant rember why though:rolleyes:

ok, the teacher will get the IT bloke to sort it out soon. he's a bit slow on the uptake and she's not exactly very assertive, but I hope they'll be able to get it done soon anyway

[Madhuri]

Hey Sleepy, you mentioned that my recording got cut off after 16 seconds. I wonder how did that happen? I listened to what I recorded and at my end it worked fine, I was able to hear the complete thing. :)

[SleepyWitch]

Hey Sleepy, you mentioned that my recording got cut off after 16 seconds. I wonder how did that happen? I listened to what I recorded and at my end it worked fine, I was able to hear the complete thing. :)

hi Maddie that's good news :) if you were able to listen to it that means that the IT guy should be able to restore the data. maybe sth went wrong when he copied it on to the CD

[Madhuri]

I hope it works out for you :) I had to click on the progress bar to listen to the recording. The complete text was recorded in two phases / files, as twice it stopped for data storage.

[SleepyWitch]

It's working :) you can do your recordings now :) please follow the instructions above
.
.
.

[Madhuri]

Thanks for the update, Sleepy. I'll hopefully record it in next couple of days. Will that be okay?

[SleepyWitch]

Thanks for the update, Sleepy. I'll hopefully record it in next couple of days. Will that be okay?

you won't need to :) your files are there. the problem was that the CD the guy burned us was faulty! the files should be alright :)
thanks for your help :)

[Koa]

Can I try and join? Do you have a deadline? Im busy this week though I dont exclude finding the time, but next week should I be on holiday. Or do you have enough? Or do you need natives, no you don't I guess?

edit: ooooh my 4000th post! :blush:

[SleepyWitch]

just go ahead and do your recording.. i think we've got enough samples for the kid's term papers but you can take part anyway. it would be cool if they could listen to as great a variety of accents as possible :)
the instructions are on the previous page

[Madhuri]

you won't need to :) your files are there. the problem was that the CD the guy burned us was faulty! the files should be alright :)
thanks for your help :)

Thats good news. Will you be using my recording? Was it audible? When I was listening back to the recording, I felt that I needed to be louder.

[SleepyWitch]

Thats good news. Will you be using my recording? Was it audible? When I was listening back to the recording, I felt that I needed to be louder.

we'll listen to it tomorrow. but the 16 secs we listened to last week were perfectly audible

[Virgil]

we'll listen to it tomorrow. but the 16 secs we listened to last week were perfectly audible

OOOOh, are we going to be able to hear Maddie's voice? :)

[SleepyWitch]

OOOOh, are we going to be able to hear Maddie's voice? :)
I'm afraid not.. only the admin (=that IT guy who helps the teacher with the project) has access to all users' recordings

[SleepyWitch]

the project won a prize. we're going to Berlin for two days for the awards ceremony tomorrow. thanks to everyone who offered their help and provided speech samples!
Maddhie, I stil owe you that presentation about your accent :(

[Madhuri]

the project won a prize. we're going to Berlin for two days for the awards ceremony tomorrow. thanks to everyone who offered their help and provided speech samples!

That's great news :D Congratulations !!


Maddhie, I stil owe you that presentation about your accent :(

Take your time :) I do wonder what analysis you did about my accent :D I would love to see the outcome :nod:

[SleepyWitch]

Take your time :) I do wonder what analysis you did about my accent :D I would love to see the outcome :nod:

haha, I haven't done any analysis of it so far, except for the tiny little bit we used for the kids. so that explains it :)